Memorial
by Jessie611
Summary: JC meet up many years later.


He stood looking at the woman sitting below the memorial statue, surrounded by flowers. She had tears in her eyes and she was tracing the names engraved on the stone with her fingers. He knew she was searching for someone who had perished that day.

Twenty years before, the threat of the worst atrocity to hit US soil at the hands of terrorists was thwarted by a group of government agents, most of who perished in the line of duty. As a result of their heroics hundreds of thousands of American lives were saved and the future of national security was changed for the better. A total of fifty six agents lost their lives that day and to his knowledge only a handful had survived; one of whom was his father

He sighed as he moved towards the statue, a bunch of lilies resting in his arms. He hated to intrude on the woman but he had come here early in the hope he would have a moment to think of his mother and grandfather who had both died that day. He didn't mind that he had to share this moment with someone as long as he had this time before the crowds arrived. The American public had adopted the statue as their symbol of freedom and thousands of people traditionally congregated here annually to pay their respects. It was only six am and he knew that the crowds would begin to arrive in the next hour or so.

The woman looked at him as he approached; she swiped at the tears on her face in an attempt to hide them from him. He smiled in sympathy.

"I'm sorry" he said, "I don't mean to intrude."

A small smile curved her lips as she slowly stood. "It's a free country" she said bluntly.

He smiled in return. "Well it is now, thanks to those people" he said, nodding in the direction of the list of names.

She frowned as though deep in her own thoughts. There was something about her that intrigued him. He wondered what her story was.

"Were you here?" he asked her.

She sighed. "Yeah, I was here".

He nodded. "You lost someone?"

The woman shifted uncomfortably and Adam immediately regretted his question. "I'm sorry; I really don't mean to intrude".

"That's okay" she said, letting out a slow breath that blew at the strand of hair that had fallen across her eyes. "I lost a lot of people that day, including a really good friend of mine."

He nodded again. "My mother and grandfather lost their lives that day as well."

"I'm sorry" she said, looking at him properly for the first time.

He saw the frown that crossed her features as she stared at him. "Oh my god" she whispered.

He looked at her in concern. "What is it?" he asked.

"Adam?"

He froze in shock. "Yes, how? . . . . how do you know who I am?"

"I worked with your parents. I was an analyst at the Counter Terrorist Unit" she replied. "And you look so much like your father; I don't know how I didn't see it earlier."

"Chloe?"

It was her turn to look surprised. Even though she had met him several times many years ago he had been too young to remember her.

At her confused look he laughed a little. "No, I don't remember you" he said with a smile "but my dad always talked about you."

"He did?" she asked.

"You saved his life" he said simply.

She rolled her eyes and her gaze settled on the ground. "He saved many, including me".

"But he couldn't save all of them" Adam said.

Chloe looked at him then. "No, he couldn't. He always thought he should have done but it was impossible."

"He let Chase die".

Chloe froze in shock. "That's what he told you?"

"Yes, that's what he told me."

"It wasn't his fault. No more than it was my fault that your mother died in that explosion and I survived."

She stopped herself from continuing when she saw the pain flit across his features. "I'm sorry" she said, "I do that, a lot. Say the wrong thing I mean. I'm sorry" she said, letting out a long sigh.

"It's okay."

"I should go" Chloe said, gathering her things and standing as though to move away but was stopped in her tracks at the sound of the voice behind her.

"Adam?"

Adam moved down the steps and embraced his father. "Hey Dad, you okay?"

"I'm fine" came the gruff response.

Chloe turned, knowing that she was hidden from his view. She wondered if she'd be able to get away before he saw her. The last time they had seen each other he had been angry, devastated. He had struggled to face her; there had been guilt written all over him and he hadn't been able to deal with it. More importantly, he hadn't been able to deal with her. The worst had come when the doctor told her she had miscarried; Jack had felt responsible for taking Chase from her and now he felt responsible for taking the baby. They had gone from being the only person the other could trust to virtual strangers who couldn't stand to be in the same room as each other.

"Dad, I need to go. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sure, see you later" came the response.

Chloe remained rooted to the spot. A part of her desperately wanted to talk to him, while another part wanted to keep hold of the memories and walk away. She couldn't bear to see that anger and devastation in his face again. She knew it would break her heart for the second time in her life.

Adam moved back from his father and turned to Chloe, smiling softly at her before retrieving his backpack and walking away. She realised he was giving her an opportunity to escape if she wanted to.

Chloe blew her hair out of her eyes and frowned deeply. The reality was that she couldn't just walk away. She'd spent the last twenty years thinking about him every day. She slowly moved down the steps and turned into his direct line of vision. She was given a moments grace when she saw that he was sitting with his face in his hands. She breathed a sigh of relief; taking the opportunity to look at him, to take in every familiar line of him before she had to face whatever reaction he would confront her with.

Her heart contracted as she looked at his strong profile, his sandy hair now with a spattering of grey. He was still strong, the contour of his muscles visible even from her distance from him. She sighed again and braced herself.

"Jack?"

She saw his shoulders tense as his hands fell from his face. His head jerked up in the direction of her voice. A voice he hadn't heard for a million years, but a voice that was even now so familiar to him. His shock was palpable as he slowly stood and walked towards her.

Chloe's heart contracted again as she stared into his blue eyes.

"Chloe?" he asked, the wonderment in his voice apparent. He hesitated as he would have continued forward.

"Yeah, it's me" she said, rolling her eyes and silently telling him he was an idiot.

"Oh my god" he whispered, his blinking expression so familiar it hurt.

Deciding to meet him half way, she moved forward.

"Oh my god" he repeated, but now the confusion was passing and a warm smile tugged at his lips.

He moved quickly this time, reaching towards her and pulling her into him. Chloe felt the warmth of him surround her as she sank forward and buried her face in his neck. She couldn't stop the tears that fell from her eyes as she breathed in the scent of him. Chloe hardly noticed as he spun around and sat on the step, dragging her with him. They sat for several minutes, neither talking.

Eventually Chloe moved back from him. They sat looking at each other and Jack reached to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. His touch was so familiar, how many times had they sat like that in the past? Chloe sighed in a way that was all too familiar to him.

"God, I've missed you" Jack said honestly.

Chloe gave what was a rare smile "Me too."

They sat in silence for several minutes, still holding onto each other but both believing that for a while words were unnecessary.

Jack was the first to speak, just as Chloe knew he would be "I'm sorry", he said simply.

Chloe nodded, "I know. We were both wrong."

Jack sighed. "I just . . . . I just felt so guilty."

Chloe looked at him, tears glistening in her eyes. "You always did Jack. Whatever went wrong you found a way to turn it in on yourself, even if it wasn't your fault."

"It was my fault though; I betrayed Audrey and I let you down."

Chloe scowled at him. "We both betrayed Audrey and you never let me down."

"You would say that" he said with a smile, knowing that Chloe had always been the one person who would forgive him anything.

"It's the truth" she said softly, so quietly he almost didn't hear her.

"I let Chase die; he was your best friend."

"You didn't LET Chase die, he just died and . . ." she paused for a moment "and, Chase was my second best friend, you were my first."

"I was your lover."

"And my friend, besides you were my friend first; you were still married to Audrey."

"That's what made it worse".

"We both had to live with that" Chloe said, tightening her grip on his hand as they sat staring into the distance.

"Our baby died".

"Not your fault."

"Maybe not, but I got what I deserved."

Chloe got angry then. "Don't say that, you deserved to be happy. We both did and that was all we tried to do. We couldn't help how we felt and everything else was an accident; Chase, my miscarriage, it was all an accident."

"Not Audrey" he said sadly.

"No, not Audrey. But, both of you said you were only together until Adam was a little more settled. You had every right to try and find happiness."

"We were happy for a while weren't we?" he asked, his clear blue eyes catching hers briefly before drifting back to focus on something in the distance.

"We were" Chloe said, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Again, they didn't speak for several minutes, both lost in their own thoughts. Chloe thought back to that day when things had started out so happily for them. She had met him in the morning and told him that she was pregnant with his child. He had been ecstatic, despite being concerned for Audrey. He and Audrey had decided months before that they shouldn't be together anymore but Adam, who had been four at the time had been going through an unsettled period so they decided they would ease out of their marriage slowly rather than going for a sudden split. It had been during those months that things had started to happen between Jack and Chloe.

Jack recalled how he had first realised he had those sort of feelings for her. They had crept up on him slowly, she had gone from being his colleague to his friend then to the first person he thought of every morning before he woke and every night before he slept. He smiled as he remembered the first time he kissed her. They had been arguing about something and she wouldn't let it drop so he tried the only thing he could think of to shut her up. It had worked for a minute but then she was shouting at him again, this time because he had kissed her.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him now.

"I'm thinking how much I loved you Chloe" he said with a sad smile, "and I'm wondering how I ever let you go."

She nodded, understanding everything. "Did you meet anyone new?"

Jack sighed. "I tried" he said, "but it didn't work out. You?"

"I got married . . . . twice" she added with a smile, "neither worked". She shrugged her shoulders slightly "I gave up then. I figured that three marriages under my belt was enough."

"Did you love them?" Jack asked softly.

She smiled. "No. There was only ever one man I really loved."

Jack sighed. "I'm sorry".

"You said that already. Stop it."

He pulled her closer towards him. Chloe rested her head on his shoulder and sighed, breathing in the familiar and comforting scent of him. She felt her stomach flip in an equally familiar response to the closeness of him. She'd always known she would never feel the way she did about him with anyone else. Their bond had always been unique and she'd always known it would last. They may not have seen each other for many years but absence could not break their bond.

"I love you" she said simply and heard him sigh.

"I know Chloe. Me too. I always will."

"I know" she said in response, curling into his side and feeling his lips against her brow as he kissed her gently.

They sat like that until the crowds arrived.


End file.
